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"APPLE'S FIRST FOUR"
APPLE RECORDS PREMIERE PROMOTIONAL PRESS KIT
UNITED STATES ISSUE
APPLE RECORDS, AUGUST 22, 1968

ITEM#: PR720
CONDITION: RECORDS (NM TO NM-) / FOLDER & ALL INSERTS (NM) /
OUTER ENVELOPE (G)
PRICE: ------

DESCRIPTION
(ACTUAL IMAGES)

ON AUGUST 22, 1968, EMPLOYEES OF CAPITOL RECORDS IN LOS ANGELES SENT PRESS KITS TO RADIO STATION PROGRAM DIRECTORS ACROSS THE UNITED STATES. THE KITS WERE PACKAGED IN WHITE ENVELOPES WITH AN APPLE LOGO IN THEN UPPER LEFT CORNER SERVING AS THE RETURN ADDRESS. THE LOGO WAS A SOLID GREEN CIRCLE WITH A WHITE APPLE IN THE CENTER WITH THE WORD "APPLE" IN WHITE SCRIPT LETTERS ABOVE THE STEM. THE LUCKY RECIPIENTS OF THESE ENVELOPES WOULD BE AMONG THE FIRST PEOPLE IN AMERICA TO READ ABOUT AND, MORE IMPORTANTLY, HEAR THE INITIAL FOUR OFFERINGS OF THE BEATLES' NEW VENTURE, APPLE RECORDS. UPON RIPPING OPEN THE ENVELOPE, THE RECIPIENT ENCOUNTERED A GLOSSY CREAM COLORED FOLDER WITH A LARGE APPLE LOGO ON ITS FRONT SIDE. INSIDE THE FOLDER WAS A TREASURE OF SOUND, VISUALS AND INFORMATION.

FAB 4 COLLECTIBLES PROUDLY OFFERS THE INSANELY ULTRA-RARE U.S. APPLE RECORDS PROMOTIONAL PACKAGE KIT. THE PREMIERE OF APPLE was marked by the issuing of THIS limited edition press kit of the first four 45rpm vinyl singles RELEASED ON THEIR NEW LABEL "Apple " – which they called “APPLE'S First Four”. THIS PACKAGE IS TOTALLY COMPLETE WITH ALL FOUR RECORDS, FOUR BLACK APPLE 45 SLEEVES, PHOTOGRAPHS, BIOGRAPHIES, AND OUTER FOLDER. THROUGH AND THROUGH, THIS IS ONE OF THE FINEST CONDITIONED EXAMPLES THAT EXISTS. THIS SET ALSO INCLUDES THE VERY ELUSIVE OUTER ENVELOPE WHICH IS RARELY SEEN AND MAKES THIS SET TRULY COMPLETE. ONLY FIVE U.S. COMPLETE APPLE RECORDS U.S. PRESS KITS ARE KNOWN TO HAVE SURVIVED - AND ONLY A HANDFUL MORE THAT ARE ONLY PARTIAL SETS. THIS "APPLE'S FIRST FOUR" PROMOTIONAL PACKAGE IS THE VERY FIRST LEAD FEATURED ITEM IN BRUCE SPIZER'S WIDELY ACCLAIMED BOOK
THE BEATLES ON APPLE, IN WHICH HE DEDICATES EIGHT FULL PAGES TO THIS ONE ITEM.

Each single, pressed by capitol in los angeles are packaged in their respective WEST COAST THUMB TAB VERSION BLACK "APPLE" SLEEVES. THE BEATLES "HEY JUDE" SINGLE IS INSERTED IN THE RARER "THE BEATLES ON APPLE") TAB CUT SLEEVE. THE THREE APPLE ARTISTS SINGLES ARE INSERTED IN THE "APPLE" TAB CUT SLEEVE.

● The Beatles “Hey Jude" / "Revolution” (APPLE 2276) - TAKE NOTE THIS IS THE VERY SCARCE FIRST EVER ISSUE FEATURING THE FIRST LABEL
     VARIATION WITHOUT THE GEORGE MARTIN PRODUCTION CREDIT, THE MATRIX NUMBERS, OR THE "RECORDED IN ENGLAND" STATEMENT.
● JOHN FOSTER AND SONS LTD. Black Dyke Mills Band “Thingumybob” / "YELLOW SUBMARINE" (APPLE 1800). THE A-SIDE IS CREDITED TO
     "McCARTNEY & LENNON" (RATHER THAN 'LENNON & MCCARTNEY'). BOTH SIDES OF THE DISC HAVE A 'PAUL MCCARTNEY' PRODUCTION CREDIT.
     PAUL IS ALSO SEEN IN THE PHOTOGRAPH (alongside is HIS FAMOUS SHEEPDOG MARTHA) with THE black dyke mills BAND.
● Mary Hopkin “Those Were the Days” / "TURN TURN TURN" (APPLE 1801). PAUL HAD ALSO PRODUCED BOTH SIDES OF THIS SINGLE.
● Jackie Lomax “Sour Milk Sea” / "THE EAGLE LAUGHS AT YOU" (APPLE 1802). THE RECORD WAS PRODUCED BY GEORGE HARRISON. GEORGE IS
     MISTAKENLY LISTED AS THE WRITER OF BOTH SONGS, YET THE B-SIDE WAS PENNED BY LOMAX.

THE PRESS KIT ALSO INCLUDES FOUR 8" X 10" BLACK AND WHITE GLOSSIES OF EACH OF THE ARTISTS FEATURED ON THE RECORDS, WITH THE BEATLES REPRESENTED BY THEIR CARTOON IMAGES FROM THE YELLOW SUBMARINE FILM, WHICH HAD YET TO BE RELEASED IN AMERICA.

RECIPIENTS OF THE PRESS KIT LEARNED ABOUT EACH ARTIST THROUGH SEPARATE 8½" X 11" INFORMATION SHEETS AND 5½" X 8½" BOOKLETS. THE INFORMATION SHEET ON THE BEATLES IS FULL OF OPTIMISM AND TELLS A STORY OF THE BEATLES QUITE DIFFERENT FROM THE TENSIONS THAT SOMETIMES SURFACED DURING THE RECORDING OF THE GROUP'S FIRST APPLE ALBUM "THE BEATLES" (WHITE ALBUM) :.... "AT THIS MOMENT THEY ARE DEEPLY INVOLVED IN THE TWIN RESPONSIBILITIES OF RECORDING THE ALBUM-SUCCESSOR TO THE PROFOUNDLY RESPECTED 'SERGEANT PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND' AND OF ADMINISTERING THE HAPPY APPLE COMPLEX OF COMPANIES IN LONDON". WHILE THE COMMENTS ABOUT "HAPPY APPLE" LATER RANG HOLLOW, THE STATEMENTS in another paragraph ABOUT THE BRILLIANCE OF THE BEATLES NEW SINGLE WERE ON TARGET. "HEY JUDE" QUICKLY TOPPED THE CHARTS AND REMAINED IN THE NUMBER ONE SPOT FOR WEEKS DURING ITS 19 WEEK RUN. THE BEATLES FIRST APPLE SINGLE SOLD OVER THREE MILLION COPIES IN THE U.S. IN ITS FIRST TWO MONTHS OF RELEASE.

ALL FOUR SINGLES INCLUDED IN THIS KIT ARE IN NEAR MINT TO NEAR MINT MINUS CONDITION WITH NEAR MINT LABELS. THE RARE WEST COAST THUMB TAB VERSION BLACK APPLE SLEEVES ARE ALL NEAR MINT TO VG+++ CONDITION AS WELL. THE CUSTOM HIGH-GLOSS 9" X 12" APPLE FOLDER, THE INTERIOR PRINTED INFORMATION SHEETS AND FOUR PHOTOGRAPHS ARE ALL A BRILLIANT NEAR MINT. THE PHOTOS DO NOT HAVE THE TYPICAL SLIGHT BOWING THAT IS DUE TO AGE AND THE FACT THAT ONE SIDE IS GLOSSY AND A FLAT FINISH ON THE OTHER SIDE. THESE PHOTOS LAY PERFECTLY FLAT.

THE MEGA-RARE OUTER ENVELOPE IS SLIGHTLY LARGER AT 13" X 10" AND GRADES AT "G" (GOOD, WITH SOME EDGE TEARS AND AGING, YET KEEP IN MIND THIS ITEM IS ALWAYS THE MISSING PIECE OF THE PUZZLE AND RARELY ACCOMPANIES THE KIT. THIS ONE HAS SURVIVED AND IS PRESENT HERE.

THIS OFFERING OF THE CAPITOL RECORDS' UNITED STATES VERSION OF "APPLE'S FIRST FOUR" IS ONE OF THE MOST DIFFICULT AND RAREST BEATLES PROMOTIONAL COLLECTIBLE TO ACQUIRE. THIS EXAMPLE IS IN IS ORIGINAL STATE, COMPLETE AND ONE OF THE HANDFUL THAT STILL exist. it is still a thrill to go through it, read its flowery TEXT BY derek taylor, look at the pictures and the singles that launched apple records. one can only imagine the excitement generated by thAT WHITE folder WITH THE GREEN APPLE LOGO all those years ago.

THIS APPLE PRESS KIT THAT WAS MAILED TO U.S. RADIO STATIONS IN AUGUST OF 1968 IS THE AMERICAN EQUIVALENT OF THE ELABORATELY PACKAGED "OUR FIRST FOUR" BOX IN BRITAIN (FAB 4 COLLECTIBLES HAD PREVIOUSLY SOLD THE "OUR FIRST FOUR." PROMOTIONAL BOX). IT CONTAINED THE SAME DEBUT SINGLES AND WAS DISTRIBUTED TO BRITISH RADIO STATIONS AND MEMBERS OF THE PRESS.

IT IS A KNOWN FACT THAT THE U.S. ISSUE IS BY FAR, MUCH SCARCER THAN THE BRITISH VARIATION.